May 13, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the Preakness Stakes barn this morning at Pimlico Race Course. Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas to step away from training amid health issues

Originally posted on Horse Racing on SI | By Mike Smith | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 4:55 PM ET

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will step away from training effective immediately, after being diagnosed with severe health issues, according to a release from the trainer’s family. The release stated that the 89-year-old trainer has suffered from a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection that caused "significant damage to his heart (and) digestive system and worsened preexisting chronic conditions."

According to his family, Lukas will forgo an aggressive form of treatment and return home in order to spend more time with his family. The family is requesting privacy during this difficult time.

Horses that were under the care of Luka will be transferred to his veteran assistant Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl. Prior to entering horse racing, Nicholl was a tank commander in the British Army, leaving in 1995 to work for steeplechase trainer Edward O’Grady. Nicholl came to the United States in 1999 and started working for Lukas in 2002.

Lukas was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 and won his first Thoroughbred race in 1977 at Santa Anita. With a lengthy list of accomplishments, Lukas won 4,967 races, his last coming June 12 in a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs. Lukas was also an accomplished Quarter Horse trainer, becoming the first person to be inducted into both halls of fame in 2007.

Horses trained by Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races and 20 Breeders’ Cup races, the most among any trainer. Lukas amassed more than $300 million in earnings, with 1,105 stakes victories, 637 of which were in graded stakes. A 14-time Eclipse Award winner, Lukas won his final Triple Crown race in 2024 when Seize the Grey upset the Preakness. Lukas also won the 2022 Kentucky Oaks with Secret Oath, his fifth victory in that race. Lukas topped the nation’s earnings list 14 times during his career and was champion trainer at Churchill Downs 11 times. Additionally, Lukas trained 25 horses that won Eclipse Awards.

In 2015, Churchill Downs renamed the Homecoming Classic to the Lukas Classic, with the 1 1/8-mile race for older horses growing from a listed stakes to a Grade 2 and a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.